Ninth Circuit Judge Nelson Charged With Misdemeanor Battery

Judge Ryan D. Nelson of the Ninth Circuit has been charged with misdemeanor battery, according to court records.

Nelson, who sits in Idaho Falls, has also been charged by that city prosecutor’s office with malicious injury to property.

His attorney named in court records, Curtis Reed Smith, and US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit representatives didn’t immediately return requests for comment Saturday. Idaho Falls police and Zachary Jones, the Idaho Falls’ city attorney whose office is prosecuting the case, also didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

Bloomberg Law wasn’t immediately able to obtain the underlying records that describe the incident. According to the Idaho State Journal, which first reported Nelson’s case Friday, the charges stem from an April 2 altercation the judge had with a man in a parking lot in Idaho Falls.

The Idaho State Journal also published video of the incident, which shows Nelson acting aggressively in the parking lot.

Nelson pleaded not guilty May 13 to both charges, which were filed April 22, according to court records for Idaho’s 7th Judicial District in Bonneville County. A pretrial conference is scheduled for June 18, court records show.

Nelson, who was born in Idaho Falls, was nominated by President Donald Trump in 2018 and has sat on the bench since his confirmation that same year.

The case is State of Idaho v. Nelson, Idaho Dist. Ct., No. CR10-26-03905.